The Cincinnati Reds have activated left-handed reliever Amir Garrett from the paternity list. That meant the team had to make a move to clear a roster spot and that came at the expense of infielder Alejo Lopez.
The bullpen will get back another arm as Amir Garrett returns. Since June 9th the lefty has allowed five earned runs in 13.2 innings (3.29 ERA) with six walks and 24 strikeouts. Opponents have hit just .231/.310/.288 against him in that span. That 21 game stretch makes up half of his season. The season was out to an incredibly tough start for Garrett. On June 8th his ERA was sitting at 9.53 as he struggled to find any sort of consistency on the mound. Things have turned around, though, and his return should be beneficial as the Reds head to Chicago to take on the Cubs tonight.
For Alejo Lopez he’ll head back to Triple-A. The switch-hitting infielder hasn’t been able to get into the starting lineup in Cincinnati much this year when he has been on the active roster. He’s mostly been relegated to pinch-hitting duties. As a starter he’s gone 4-12 on the season. Coming off of the bench he was 2-7.
Prospect List Updates
Over at RedsMinorLeagues.com I released the Cincinnati Reds Midseason Top 25 Prospect list this morning. It’s the first major update since the end of the 2019 season since we now have actual information and reports on everyone in the system. It includes players from the most recent draft as well. If that’s your kind of thing then be sure to go give it a read.
Baseball America also released a new prospect list this morning. They have updated their Top 100 Prospect List for all of the minor leagues. You’ll need a subscription to see the entire list. Cincinnati has three prospects in the Top 50, but none in the 51-100 range. Jose Barrero, Nick Lodolo, and Hunter Greene all find themselves in the top half of the list. Greene feels drastically underrated at #48 overall.
Doug, when did the paternity list start in the majors? i never remembered players getting days off in the olden days lol
I have no idea. Someone hit the google machine and find out!
It was a new provision of the 2o11 CBA
Man, what’s Lopez gotta do to stick with the big league club? Surely he’s a better option than Freeman?
Freeman is the backup shortstop. Lopez can’t play shortstop. They aren’t exactly competing for the same spot on the roster.
Neither could Suarez but he did. At least, Lopez appears to be able to hit.
Freeman started at 3rd the other day while Lopez was on the roster still. Sounds like they have zero intention of letting him do anything other than pinch hit.
@ LDS hahahaha!!!! Also, how many times have we heard that Senzel can’t play SS. All of a sudden we’re hearing, apparently, magically, he can. 🙂 More than anything else it’s just a matter of what they want to do (mostly David Bell), not what can be done.
When they made Senzel our CF, we needed a CF, Billy was no longer a Red.
We had a SS in Peraza, who was coming off a season where he had the 2nd most hits by any Reds SS ever.
We had a back up SS in Jose Iglesias who signed with us in ST.
Gennett got injured. Peraza moved to 2B and Iglesias took over SS.
So I’m not saying Senzel can or can’t play SS, I’m saying he was needed more as the teams CF, and was a pretty good one to boot. He never had to prove he could or couldn’t play SS.
I remember Chad Dotson saying the scuttlebut he got at the time Senzel was tried at SS before was that David Bell didn’t want anything to do with him playing the infield at the time, not that he couldn’t play there.
Which is another reason why the construction of this team is so awful that you are forced to keep Mike Freeman on the team.
The construction of the team is more towards David Bell’s liking in that he can switch a lefty for a righty in a lot of cases. Just like pitching.
2 players that I am really interested as a reds fan now are Yasiel Puig and Trevor Bauer. what are the chances either of these guys could be reds again this year?
I was sorry the Reds let Puig go. He was competitive and entertaining. But where do the Reds put another RF’er? As for Bauer? Who will pay the $40/million or whatever the outrageous contract is? If anything, I’m hoping that Bauer’s problems results in more rational contracts. MLB can’t reconcile the ‘losing money’ argument with the large contracts they’ve handed out over the last couple of years.
I wouldn’t touch Bauer with a 10-foot pole right now. Read something earlier that the majority of his teammates in L.A. don’t want him back, either:
https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/majority-of-dodgers-players-do-not-want-trevor-bauer-to-rejoin-team-per-report/
And the Reds have historically been media risk adverse, e.g., Chapman.
Agree 100%
agreed, the only way I would take Bauer, is with a bad haul and the Dodgers playing the majority of the contract. MLB seems to want to wait until the case goes to trial and use the Rules of Evidence to do its investigation for them. Seeing as another continuance pushed the trial back to August it may be after the season before it is concluded. No point in taking that contract. Puig? is he even in the majors. I thought I remembered seeing something about him playing in Mexico
Have to say the Reds did panic on Chapman getting very little for him. Now look at what he’s done and accomplished since.
Puig is mostly a good guy and I like him but in my view the reason he won’t be back is simply he can’t be controlled when he goes bananas. When you’ve got your franchise, 25 million plus player as the only one remotely able to stop him, risking injury, that’s just not acceptable.
Well Shogo was the 4th Red hit by Milw in 10 innings when they put Nick out and ended the divisional race. If Puig was our 4th-5th OFer and got hit there then Milw would’ve learned within seconds that the Reds don’t play that!
haha!! Yeah. As long as we just let him go and nobody gets hurt trying to stop him….on our side. lol
Puig is not in the majors because of sexual assault charges. No GM wanted to mess with him. Puig by all accounts is anything but a good guy.
A women said he followed her into a ladies restroom. You can figure out the rest of what she said he did.
Of course I don’t know anything about his personal life rumors and whether or not they have any truth to them. He may be a good guy. He may be a rotten guy. I will say it’s getting more scary all the time how anyone can say just about anything they want about a person, damaging their reputation, and for the most part get away with it even if there is little to no truth. I just know what he did with the Reds.
Doug, what do you think it would cost to get Whitt Merrifield, if Padres got Frazier for 1of their top 10 prospects and 2 low a guys, I don’t think it could any worse . He is 1 of the most underrated overall players in mlb bat him 6th or 7th , second leadoff He also came up as 2b, 3b moved to cf could be 3b once a week. Naquin and Aquino platoon in right, until Nick C comes back or it’s worse than 10 day , just wanted your thought
I’d say about the same as Doug sporting a pair of Jim Bowden’s leather pants on a date with Rachel Luba
I wonder if reds would upgrade SS position after they were turn down by marlins today. Does anyone know what was offer for that trade or who will be likely traded for that position for the reds. I wouldn’t mind idea of story or BÃ ez ( mostly Baez bc he can play outfield, short or third)
Are you sure about Baez? He strikes out as much as Suarez.
Not horribly upset with this move. Lopez will get regular playing time in Louisville. Suprised a pitcher wasn’t sent out though. Figured out the timing of the Fraizer trade, as Pit. was playing SF in San Francisco, and therefore Fraizer only had a hundred miles (or less) to travel rather then the cross country trip that would have been requried if he was back in Pittsburg. Padres must want him to go right away
I don’t know why this appears down here as it was a direct reply to Rednat?
Clearly you zigged when you should have zagged.
Seems to be a trend lol
Seems like a rather quiet deadline season for the Reds. A few sell rumors posted on the various sites. The only buy rumor seems to have been the Rojas deal. Anyone seen anything suggestive anywhere, like a SS, some relievers, etc.
MLBTR chat last night said the Reds should be “Strategic Buyers” for what ever that is worth
Yeah, I saw that. Not particularly encouraging given the shape the team is in. Lots of pieces appear to be available without gutting the farm. So it goes.
but if the Fraizer trade is any indication a gutting of the farm system may not be required
Agreed, I’d call Frazier a steal. So go for Rodriguez. He’s cheap, controlled, and should take substantially less to acquire than the price SD paid for Frazier. Give up someone from DG’s prospect list today, like Siani or Richardson.
Seems like everyone in baseball is looking for reliable relievers. I can’t see the Reds paying the price for one of the best ones. I mentioned previously that I though they should try to see if they can convince someone to part with a high prospect for Garrett given the need around MLB.
I saw a rumor linking them to Twins reliever Rogers.
I see tonight’s lineup is out. Stephenson back to the bench and Suarez back to the #5 slot. It’s just impossible for me to take Bell seriously.
You can always go find another team to root for
I agree that Suarez batting 5th is nuts. If I’m a pitcher/team I ask myself why would I pitch to just about anybody hitting in front of him when I don’t have to? Most pitchers have at least as good or a better chance than a .170 hitter. Oops i stand corrected. He’s now hitting .171. He’s coming around though. Don’t worry. 🙂
By the way with a .171 BA, if it were possible, I-71 is what he should be traveling on….to Louisville. 🙂
Being a fan doesn’t mean being a sycophant. Sometimes you have to care about results. Something that many Reds fans have given up on.
And for the record, Rachel Luba is the agent for both Bauer and Puig and who both are currently 9x radioactive due to pending salacious sexual assault allegations … and that was an obvious attempt at deadpan humor with the leather pants thing
And who knows where this message will show itself?
Same place I replied to the previous zig zag remark … feel free to remove any lol
i understand the legal issues but both players seemed to like their time in Cincy and put up some good numbers here.. plus we could really use a right fielder and pitcher right now with all the injuries. lol
Pittsburgh also sent SD $1.5mil (which seems crazy) so the Pads would avoid any luxury tax penalties … this was a reply to Bet on Red btw
yea, reports that SD is trying to move Hosmer as well. Needless to say that was an expensive lotto ticket.
Maybe I am looking at this with a too positive feeling but the way I see it, Reds are upgrading because of whats coming from the injured list…
Right now Max Schrock is back. I would stick him at third and give Suarez a long breather. This kid doesnt have Suarez power, but he gets on.
Nick Senzel is also on his way back. If Schrick doesnt pan out, give him a shot at third.
Hopefully Sims and Antone come back in the next two weeks, to get some bullpen help.
As for shortstop. Blandino is on his way back, and Berrero seems to have found his groove in the batters box. Although I am not all that unhappy with Farmer. He grinds and plays with a lot of heart.
We could upgrade from within in two weeks.
Fingers crossed for no more injuries
correct tons of the Reds problems get cleared with players getting healthy… still could go get some peices for the back end of the Bullpen though
I’d bring up Barrero to SS and move Farmer to 3B. Bench Suarez until …. whenever. Aquino needs a long shot at CF. His stats haven’t been pretty good though he Ks so much. Just leave him there for 2 months or so and see how it goes.
I agree about Aquino. Have to let him get comfortable to see what he can do. I’m not a big Blandino fan by the way….unless of course he’s pitching. 🙂 Given the state of the pen this year that’s not entirely crazy in certain situations.
Hard pass on Aquino playing more he’s had one good month.Other than that that beyond awful.In the minors he had one good year other than that beyond awful
So you’re saying Aquino is beyond awful right now? Compared to who?
Aquino’s .933 OPS would disagree with you.
I don’t get why so many here are down on Aquino. The guy is doing a pretty nice job in limited playing time. I personally would like to see what he can do for a few months more with more playing time.
Someone said he strikes out way to much… From what I had heard and seen on his stats they were way down recently.
Hard pass on Blandino – has show nothing really and doesn’t belong on roster. Better options than him .
But hopefully you are right , especially
concerning bullpen .
Blandino has shown to be a good ph but when he starts you can count on ) hits
Meant 0
Blandino is ok defensively and not good at the plate. Period. Sub. Period.
Blandino is a career .226 hitter, .200 over the last year. He has 2 HRs in 234 ABs. He has a 51 OPS+ this year. The majority of his playing time has been at 2nd, followed by 3B. Anyone starting him ahead of India would be clueless and there are far better options at 3rd. I’m with RedAlert, cut him.
This team is like starting all the bench players from the 1980s.
As per usual, I’m going against the grain but I don’t think they’re will be any (meaningful) move at the deadline nor should there be. You can argue about the (lack of) moves made last year but the end result is not that terrible.
1) They didn’t want a big money shortstop after the lack of result in the big money moves already made. They thought Suarez could play there but that was expecting too much. Farmer has filled in OK with some key hits and good defense and Barrero is assumed to be ready next year at the latest.
2) They picked up up about a dozen “hard case” cut rate relievers and most of them have shown as such. However, Garrett is coming back strong and most of the others injured are available soon.
3) They are now depending on Brach and Hembree while Santillan and Vlad have decent value. Four others will receive last call soon.
I don’t see any great benefit to getting a big spend now for this manager.
The SS issue has been a multi-year, ongoing one. They did nothing this year and tried to move Suarez back there. Last year they went with Galvis, who wasn’t that cheap and had already been cut from a pretty terrible Blue Jays team. Before that it was a buy low on Iglesias move.
I can only assume that they thought Barrero would move more quickly, bc otherwise it’s pretty incredible that they have refused to invest in finding a real SS that could provide value.
As per usual, I’m going against the grain but I don’t think they’re will be any (meaningful) move at the deadline nor should there be. You can argue about the (lack of) moves made last year but the end result is not that terrible.
1) They didn’t want a big money shortstop after the lack of result in the big money moves already made. They thought Suarez could play there but that was expecting too much. Farmer has filled in OK with some key hits and good defense and Barrero is assumed to be ready next year at the latest.
2) They picked up up about a dozen “hard case” cut rate relievers and most of them have shown as such. However, Garrett is coming back strong and most of the others injured are available soon.
3) They are now depending on Brach and Hembree while Santillan and Vlad have decent value. Four others will receive last call soon.
I don’t see any great benefit to getting a big spend now for this manager.
you can say that again
I think he already did
Almost 2 years ago, Aquino hit 3 home runs in one game @ GABP against the Cubs with Kyle Hendricks pitching. Hendricks gave up 2 of the 3.
Almost 2 years ago, Aquino hit 3 home runs in one game @ GABP against the Cubs with Kyle Hendricks pitching. Hendricks gave up 2 of the 3.
I think we need a new manager more than anything. On any given night one of those reliever is going to have an off night and walk one hit one serve up a home run. It appears when he uses 5 relievers almost every night he is looking for the one that has the off night. If they finish an inning good use them next inning. And the batters need to adjust to the shift. An occasional bunt or slap would take away all these hard hit balls into the teeth of the defensive that turn into double plays.
another Pirates trade, this time a reliever to the Yankees. Another weak return. Holmes the RP, had tons of control left. Just one Prospect and a recent DFA in return
When Big Bob said we’ll add pitching if we get the opportunity I think he meant if we can do so without adding another dime to payroll. He probably said that while he was out looking at another vacation home, one of many.